Saints Clips
After losing Scott Daly to the Bears, the Saints are adding another long snapper.
Nick Underhill of neworleans.football reports the team is signing Cal Adomitis off of the Dolphins’ practice squad.
Adomitis, 28, has appeared in 58 career games.
Last season, he played in nine for Philadelphia.
He previously spent three seasons as Cincinnati’s long snapper, playing 49 games from 2022-2024.
New Orleans’ starting long snapper, Zach Wood, is dealing with a calf injury.
Long snapper Scott Daly is headed back to a familiar spot.
Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, the Bears are signing Daly off of the Saints’ practice squad.
Daly, 32, spent the last two seasons with Chicago before the Bears had moved on to rookie Beau Gardner this offseason. But with some snapping issues — Chicago had a 23-yard field goal blocked in Sunday’s loss to Minnesota — Daly is headed back to stabilize the position.
Daly played for the Saints in Week 2 without issue after New Orleans’ longtime long snapper, Zach Wood, suffered a calf injury.
As the NFL has changed its overtime rules, one of the league’s priorities was de-emphasizing the coin toss. Sudden death overtime fell out of favor largely because of the big advantage it gave to the team winning the toss, and the NFL wanted an overtime format that wouldn’t make winning the coin toss important.
This year, it seems to be working.
There have been three overtime games this season, and all three times, the team that won the overtime coin toss lost the game.
In Week 1, the Saints won the toss and chose to kick. The Lions scored a touchdown and extra point on the first possession, and the Saints then scored a touchdown on the second possession. The Saints went for two, didn’t convert, and lost 31-30.
In Week 2, the Jets won the toss and chose to receive. Jets coach Aaron Glenn said he wanted to control the clock, but that didn’t happen: The Jets went three-and-out on the first possession, and the Packers quickly moved into field goal range and won 20-17.
And on Sunday night in Week 2, the Colts won the toss and, despite having a captain who didn’t know the overtime rule, eventually got their choice to kick. Colts coach Shane Steichen said he wanted to kick because he didn’t want to give Patrick Mahomes four downs on the second possession. As it turned out, the Chiefs got a field goal on the first possession, the Colts tied with their own field goal on the second possession, and the Chiefs won 33-30 with another field goal on their third possession.
The current overtime format was adopted last season, and there’s still no consensus among coaches about whether it’s better to kick or receive — as demonstrated by Glenn making a different decision than Steichen and Moore. As long as that’s the case, winning the coin toss doesn’t matter very much. And that’s as it should be.
The regular season consists of a unique rhythm. Stories emerge, they burn brightly, and they get supplanted by the next shiny object.
The shiny object in the aftermath of Week 1 came from an ESPN splash report that the Broncos spoke to Hall of Famer Drew Brees about playing for Denver in the 2025 AFC Championship.
Brees told Ed Werder that the Broncos contacted Brees. Broncos coach Sean Payton said that Brees contacted the Broncos. While not technically relevant to the question of whether the Broncos committed a tampering faux pas, given that Brees remains on the Saints’ reserve/retired list, the distinction could be relevant to whether the league, which enforces the tampering rules randomly and unpredictably, does anything about it.
Brees addressed the situation on the latest episode of the Let’s Go! podcast, where he’s now a regular presence.
“So my wrist and my shoulder, I don’t throw with my right side anymore,” Brees told Jim Gray. “I mean, I could throw it 10 yards and it’s with a lot of pain, you know? So that’s definitely not gonna get the job done. Now, my mind, my body, everything else feels great, but my right wrist, right shoulder wouldn’t allow it to happen. But did I think about it? Absolutely. 1000 percent. I would’ve loved to come back and play for the Broncos in the AFC Championship game, get my coach and a bunch of the other guys that I know in that organization, the Penner family, to the Super Bowl. Would’ve loved it.”
Here’s how it happened, from Brees’s perspective:
“The thought crossed my mind to the point where I got up the next day after — here’s the story. So I get the knock [from the Hall of Fame], I get the knock literally on Monday, January 19th. It was the day after the divisional round where the news had come out that Bo Nix had hurt his foot, he was gonna be out. So Jim Porter, who’s the president of the Hall of Fame, we’re there, we’re having this moment. Dan Fouts is telling me I’m in the Hall of Fame. And I look at Jim Porter and said, ‘Well, I guess this means I can’t go back and play for the Broncos this week.’ And he goes, ‘Actually, you can do whatever you want.’ He said, ‘Voting’s already been done, you’re in, you can do whatever you want.’
“And so I’m telling you when I say I like flipped the switch, I flipped the switch. Immediately texted Pete Carmichael and Joe Lombardi, my OC and quarterback coach with the Saints, they were with the Broncos. I said, ‘You guys need me this week?’ I said, ‘I might be able to be ready.’ And they’re like, ‘Are you serious? We’ll go down and tell Sean [Payton] right now.’ I said, ‘Wait, let me get up tomorrow. Let me give this thing a go.’ So I got up the next morning and I gave it a go. I had my 13-year-old son catching balls for me in the backyard. And man, it just was not happening with the right side. Left side, inside the 20 I would have been lethal. At least could have gotten them in and out of the right plays. But no, it wasn’t going to happen.”
The key, from the perspective of the rules and whether they’ll be enforced, is that (per Brees) he called the Broncos. Even if he said last week to Werder that the Broncos called him.
For now, there’s no reason to believe the league will do anything about it. (The NFL declined comment on the matter last week.) If it happens, the official story from Brees is that he made the first move about the possibility before quickly deciding it was an impossibility, physically.
Word on Monday morning was that the Saints believed left tackle Kelvin Banks suffered a high-ankle sprain during Sunday’s win over the Ravens and an update on Monday afternoon paints a bleaker picture for Banks.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that further testing showed Banks suffered a severe enough sprain that he is expected to have surgery to address the injury. Banks is out indefinitely as a result of the injury and any return would likely come late in the season.
Banks was a first-round pick in 2025 and has started all 19 games the Saints have played since he entered the league.
Asim Richards replaced Banks against Baltimore and is the likeliest choice to take over as the Saints’ starter.
The Raiders are 2-0 and may be getting a boost to their offense next week.
Tight end Brock Bowers may be back for Week 3 after undergoing a recent knee procedure.
In his postgame press conference following Sunday’s victory over the Chargers, head coach Klint Kubiak said Bowers was “close — very close” to playing in Week 2.
Bowers went through an on-field, pregame workout before Sunday’s game, with Kubiak saying that the tight end “looked great.”
Last season, Bowers caught 64 passes for 680 yards with seven touchdowns in 12 games.
Through two games this year, Michael Mayer has started at tight end and caught nine passes for 55 yards.
The Saints came back to beat the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday, but it looks like their attempt to build on that win will come without their starting left tackle.
Kelvin Banks was carted off during the 24-17 win and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Banks is believed to have a high-ankle sprain. Banks is set to have an MRI to evaluate the extent of the injury.
High-ankle sprains often keep players out for weeks, so a stint on injured reserve could be in the cards for the 2025 first-round pick.
Asim Richards replaced Banks after he hurt his ankle on Sunday and is in line to take over as the starter for any future absences.
The Falcons aren’t ready for prime time. But prime time is ready for the Falcons.
Atlanta, which lost 34-3 to the Panthers on Sunday, has three straight night games over the next three weeks. On Thursday night, the Falcons visit the Packers. The following Monday night, the Falcons visit the Saints. Then, six nights later, the Falcons host the Ravens.
The Week 5 game could, in theory, be flexed out of prime time. It’s rare for it to happen so early in the schedule. But with the Falcons at 0-2 and with the next two games to be played in a standalone window, the NFL may decide not to subject a national audience to a third straight Falcons game.
Other possibilities for the Sunday night window in Week 5 include 49ers-Seahawks, Bears-Packers, and Vikings-Saints. That same week, the Cowboys host the Buccaneers on Thursday night. Week 5 ends with a Monday night game between the Bills and Rams in L.A.
Ultimately, it’s the NFL’s decision. If a change is going to happen, the decision would need to be made by Tuesday, September 29.
Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver unintentionally gave Saints quarterback Tyler Shough a new nickname last week. Weaver called Shough a “poor man’s Josh Allen.”
Weaver meant it as a compliment. Saints coaches, though, began referring to Shough as “Poor Man” the rest of the week.
“I loved it. I knew what [Weaver] meant by it, but yeah, obviously [Allen] is an elite player, but it fires me up,” Shough said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN.
Shough threw for two touchdowns against Weaver’s Dolphins defense last season in the Saints’ 21-17 loss. On Sunday, Shough ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown in a 24-17 victory over the Ravens.
Shough’s quarterback sneak with 1:28 left proved the game-winner.
Since Week 10 of last season, Shough has 10 fourth-quarter passing and rushing touchdowns, per Terrell. Allen leads the league with 11 in that timespan.
“He’s making a name for himself in his league and by the end of the year, I feel like he’s going to be one of the top quarterbacks,” wide receiver Chris Olave said of Shough.
The Saints fell behind the Lions 21-0 in the season opener but rallied to force overtime. They lost on a failed 2-point conversion.
They trailed the Ravens 14-3 in the first half and 17-9 in the second. They did not lose.
Tyler Shough directed the Saints to a 24-17 comeback win over the Ravens.
The Saints outscored the Ravens 14-0 in the fourth quarter as Shough threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave and ran for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down with 1:28 remaining. The Saints outgained the Ravens 137 to 43 in the fourth quarter, with Baltimore getting only two first downs.
In four possessions in the second half, the Ravens got no closer to the end zone than the Saints 31.
Shough’s touchdown run was reviewed and upheld on replay. Two downs earlier, replay upheld officials’ on-field ruling that tight end Juwan Johnson came up just short of the goal line on a diving attempt after a reception from Shough.
The Saints still had to hold off the Ravens, and Lamar Jackson got Baltimore to the New Orleans 37 with 20 seconds left. Saints safety Julian Blackmon intercepted Jackson on a desperation throw toward Rashod Bateman at the 7.
Shough went 27-of-34 for 252 yards and a touchdown and ran for 23 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. The Saints rushed for only 65 yards on 27 carries.
They were 8-of-15 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth.
The Ravens, who had 228 yards at halftime, finished with 312 yards. Jackson was 21-of-31 for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he ran for 34 yards on four carries.
Derrick Henry ran for 68 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and Bateman caught seven passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.
